Edwin Diaz and 3 other Mets free agent whose stock is rising

Atlanta Braves v New York Mets
Atlanta Braves v New York Mets / Mike Stobe/GettyImages
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The New York Mets have a lot of free agents this offseason. Not everyone will be back. Some will price themselves out of what the team is willing to pay. Others just aren’t as great of fits for what the club will need.

While a lot of the focus this week is on the MLB trade deadline, free agency is often on the minds of fans, players, and especially agents. These four Mets free agents have performed tremendously well in 2022 and have seen their stock rise to new heights.

Brandon Nimmo didn’t make the cut as he is not having an exceptional year—just a good one. Jacob deGrom, who plans to opt out, will have to do a ton to raise his free agent stock. Questions about his health will linger until he proves otherwise.

1) NY Mets free agent Edwin Diaz has raised his stock

Nobody has raised their free agent stock more on the Mets this year than Edwin Diaz. The All-Star closer has been one of the most consistent relievers in the league. Young, fiery, and about to hit free agency at the perfect time, Diaz has the potential to get one of the biggest contracts a closer has even gotten.

Diaz is back to being one of the best closers—if not the best—in the entire sport. The word dominance doesn’t even do him justice. He’s striking batters out at historical rates.

Things have turned around for Diaz in a major way this season. Last year was good but the numbers don’t bear out nearly as strongly. This season, he passes the eye and back of the baseball card test. There are definitely a couple of relief pitcher records out there he should be able to obtain by the end of this season.

As fickle as relief pitchers can be, the best often do get paid. Securing the final three outs of a Major League Baseball game is no easy ask. His stock is getting so high that the Mets may have no choice but to make him a $100 million player.

2) NY Mets free agent Taijuan Walker has raised his stock

Starting pitchers are always valuable in free agency. Taijuan Walker has done a ton to increase the value of his next contract. Certainly an All-Star candidate this year, his bigger focus will be on having a much better second half for the Mets in 2022. A strong finish could be the difference between a fat five-year contract and a shorter “make good” kind of deal.

Before even signing with the Mets prior to 2021, the question with Walker that lingered most was in regards to his health. He was able to stay on the field last year. This season, aside from a brief absence, he has been healthy and effective.

Prior to a recent bludgeoning at the bats of the Atlanta Braves, Walker was having a very strong season. We shouldn’t let that or any other hiccups along the way have us rethink all of the happy thoughts we’ve had about him. Walker will just need to finish off the year strong in order to him to enter free agency this winter for the best possible contract. After last year’s tanking in the second half, he has to prove he’s a full-season pitcher.

The Mets have reportedly already shown interest in keeping Walker around. He may, in fact, work his way into becoming one of the more coveted free agent starting pitchers this offseason. He may not think of him in the same class as some other arms on the rise, but his performance on the field suggests he’s right there with many of them.

3) NY Mets free agent Adam Ottavino has raised his stock

Retirement might not be as close in Adam Ottavino’s future as some would have believed. He signed a one-year deal with the Mets this offseason in a somewhat questionable move when the team had a far greater need to spend that money on a lefty.

Although the need for a lefty never went away, Ottavino stepped up this season and became their second best reliever. Trevor May has been out most of the year while Drew Smith and Seth Lugo have shown signs of cracking.

Ottavino has been one of the most pleasant surprises of all for the Mets. At first, it looked like he was a luxury item for Buck Showalter. Throughout the season, he has shown he was a necessity Billy Eppler wisely added to the roster. Without him, our perception of the Mets bullpen might be vastly different. Who would Showalter turn to in those late innings?

Due to his age, Ottavino isn’t looking like a long-term option for any ball club. However, on a short-term deal, he could be a nice addition for anyone’s bullpen. The Mets should even think about a reunion although with the way relief pitchers tend to be baseball’s biggest nomads, it’s probably not going to happen.

4) NY Mets free agent Trevor Williams has raised his stock

Trevor Williams might not get paid like a starting pitcher on his next deal. He might, however, be able to earn more than an average reliever. His ability to flip from the starting rotation to the bullpen and vice versa this year with some nice results makes him a potentially dangerous weapon.

As unimportant as a long man in the bullpen may seem to some, the Mets have shown the best way to use this roster spot. It doesn’t have to be just for mopping up.

Williams may have two options this winter. He can sign for a bad ball club and start regularly on what we’d expect to be a shorter deal. The team could always have intentions of flipping him at the trade deadline. Alternatively, he could sign with a contender and find himself in the exact same role he has been in since joining the Mets. Maybe he even returns to continue his relationship with the team.

In his combined roles, Williams is putting on a display no one could have expected. It can’t be easy to start games for a week or two then go into the bullpen and be called upon for three or four frames unexpectedly. Williams has managed to accomplish this. Whatever the Mets have needed from him, he has done it.

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